Hi all, This is tangentially related to a comment Adam made about the Blues Brothers and being a caricature in a disrespectful way of old-time blues players.
When I started with my band a few years back, I got a nice black suit and not cheap fedora to wear. Some wing-tip shoes and topped it off with my grandfather's black suspenders. At the time I certainly was influenced by the caricature.
Since then I have paid attention to what people wear in blues bands. Most commonly it is not very nice clothes, though some (e.g. Mark Hummel) dress pretty nicely.
Before the 1960's most all musicians dressed up to preform, and it was a sign of respect to the audience. I still wear my suit at times, and view it as respect. Especially my grandpa's suspenders.
At a low key gig, I wear a dress shirt and dress pants. At a 'bigger' gig, or one that is like a festival or something, I usually wear a a blazer or whatever for the first parts of the set.
Black pants, white shirt with tie loosely tied, and a vest. Sunglasses with reading lenses ground into the bottom, I need them to read and so people cant tell I have my eyes closed most of the time. ---------- If it ain't got harp - it ain't really blues!!!!
I see dressing nicely as being respectful to yourself and to the band. It looks more proffessional and impresses the audience more than dressing like you just dropped in from doing yard work.
I've seen some very positive comments from young people on YouTube about how bands used to dress.
Last Edited by on Dec 15, 2009 8:30 PM
plus its just fun to dress nice an look sharp. john nemeth dresses sharp. i dress like that on a daily bases. but i really dont like the blues brothers.
Last Edited by on Dec 15, 2009 8:44 PM
I just try to make sure my shirttails are long enough so I don't moon the crowd if I drop a harp, but then I grew up in the era when ripped jeans were what all the rock stars wore. (Actually, there was spandex too, but nobody wants to see me in spandex. I think there is even a court order in at least three counties.)
You know how on some forums somebody inevitably shares too much? I had a set a parachute pants once when I was a kid. I'm not proud of it, but admitting I have a problem is part of the healing process.
I wear whatever I've got on (generally business casual or jeans & a t-shirt). I'm not, for example, Eric Clapton, ie: having a large audience to perform for and making a living from. If I were I'd probably put more thought into it.
---------- ~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
I occasionally sit in with a reggae band where the drummer has a collection of high quality costume masks that cover his entire head. He'll usually wear one or another for most of each set, changing them from tune to tune. I'll be playing and look over to see a space alien behind the drums for one song, a lizard for another, a gorilla for another, etc. etc., as the pulse of reggae music is being played. Pretty bizarre but kind of cool. It's got to be hot under those masks, but it doesn't seem to bother him.
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2009 12:35 AM
We often play big gigs - weddings, corporate parties, balls. We don't have a strict band dress code, but jeans and a t-shirt isn't an option. You can't turn up to a £1000 gig looking like you just got out of bed. when we play the small gigs we dress just the same because these are our adverts for the band, a lot of the bigger bookings come from the bar gigs. I did wear full evening suit and dickie bow for a May Ball gig once (at the clients request) thankfully that's not very common.
I usually wear a black dress shirt (with silver harmonica cufflinks) and a black suit, but sometimes I've been known to don a white shirt and skinny black tie - that's as far down the blues bros road as I'm prepared to go. Our agent told us we should wear black fedoras and sunglasses - he's not our agent anymore.
I would think ones dress is part of the act. Its ones costume but isn't wearing a suit and sunglasses to play the blues just a bit cliche? I usually play for family and friends so I wear what I have on. The one time I did play for a audience, I did make sure to wear my cowboy boots.
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2009 2:06 AM
Let me kind of reverse the question. Do I care what musicians wear when I see their performance? Nope. I have seen many acts over the years and as I think about it only two musicians and their attire come to mind. 1. Johnny Winter, he had these Bell bottoms that looked four sizes bigger than he needed but then again he must weigh about 78 lbs. 2. Bob Dylan when he toured with Tom Petty. He wore a black leather trench coat all night. I'm also recalling the times we partied back stage with CJ Chenier and the red hot Louisiana Band. Those boys wore the threads. I wonder if they were influenced by Harry Hypolite. Harry played with CJ's father Clifton Chenier and was still hittin it hard with CJ's band.
In the early '70s, I went to my first Uriah Heep concert and was quite impressed with their flashy (but not really outrageous) attire. That may have been the first time I saw a band dressed that well.
"78 lbs." LOL I went to see Johnny Winter, once. I thought his voice was being piped in...He wasn't there. Than I noticed he was hidden by the mic stand! :D
My 90 year old father says "put your best foot forward, they might be seeing you for the first time" so I always dress up for the crowd sometimes slicker than others depending on the venue.I accompany a traditional blues guitarist /singer . We get lots of small jobs in pubs and parties ... people look forward to see what shoes and hat I'm wearing.
I don't know how to post pics here, but I play in a band that is heavy on the blues. The MySpace link in my sig has pics. However, I flat out refuse to engage in the wearing of any cliched blues outfits. No one in the band does, although the guitar player gets close to that territory at times.
I usually wear my regular glasses and then trendy jeans and shoes. For shirts, I like to wear short sleeved shirts with art work on them...usually something to do with koi fish or a Buddha statue.
We started out with the whole dress shirt/pants thing, but it just wasn't us. For myself, I am not a fan of wearing, playing, or portruding anything that even hints at phrases like "West Coast" or "swing".
One of my biggest pet peeves it the whole "cool guy" image that you see like on the cover of John Nemeth's latest CD. I don't dig the whole playboy image I guess.
That's not to say that fedoras, or shades, or suits aren't cool. They just aren't my thing. It is one thing to dress classy (and be classy), and it is another to play dress up.
There is a fine line between looking sharp for a trad blues player and becoming a caricature and cliche. ---------- Mike Fugazzi http://www.myspace.com/niterailband http://www.youtube.com/user/NiteRail http://www.twitter.com/NiteRail http://www.facebook.com/mike.fugazzi
I depends on how fancy the venue. At best,nice pants and shirt,possibly with a flower print. When the weather is hot,I'll wear shorts. I seem to be in the minority there. I never see blues guys wear shorts,no matter how hot it is.
i dont think any one should worry about what the iconic blues players dressed like. wether they wore fedoras or shades or suits etc... who cares. be yourself. when i see a fedora i dont think blues i think gangster. i wear fedoras cause i love hats. when i had a shaved head i wore fitted hats. when i had dreadlocks i wore tams all the time (nothing else would fit over them). now i wear fedoras cause i like them. ya playing harp may have influenced my choice to wear them. but even my xbox avatar has a fedora on. an i really dont think the people over at microsoft were thinking about the blues when they gave the option to wear fedoras on your avatar. shades? well iv been wearing shades in public for years so people dont know how high or drunk i am. my shades cost $120. my other pair cost $150. arnette and rayban. plus i drive for work an the truck has no sun visors so shades are a must. an so what if its cliche. i look dam good.
As far as I can remember what Adam said in the post that's referred to at the top, I tend agree with what he said.
I'd go a bit further than that: I think that my YT handle is a bit of a caricature or pretence. I used the word 'slim' just because I've seen it used by others, without much else influencing my thought process. Now, it feels phoney and daft. I wish I'd used the a.k.a. in my signature; at least I've got some memory of having been called it in 'real' life.
Oh yeah, I just wear jeans, a non-tatty check flanel shirt - love 'em - and a jacket with inside pockets for the harps. Oh, I nearly forgot, I love black wooly hats like the one Jack Nicolson wore in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. But, I wear that anywhere when it's cold, on or off stage. ---------- YouTube SlimHarpMick a.k.a. HarmonicaMick
With the exception of Paul O., those all seem to be taken outside. Not that that proves anything. But even I will wear shades at outdoor gigs with little shade...and I almost never wear sunglasses.
But again, as long as you're not stinkin the place up with cheese factor, I am cool with whatever...unless it is the above mentioned "playboy" look. ---------- Mike Fugazzi http://www.myspace.com/niterailband http://www.youtube.com/user/NiteRail http://www.twitter.com/NiteRail http://www.facebook.com/mike.fugazzi
Mike, my tongue was pretty firmly in my cheek when I posted them. I think it's great that it's Cotton who ISN'T wearing shades! Like I said I was just stirring the pot after Walterharp's comment (but in truth I kinda agree with him!)
It all comes down to if you're gonna walk the walk,you'd better talk the talk.I've seen a few who had the bluesman "look" down cold,but it ended there. Ya, that kinda rubs me the wrong way.
too all the guys who dont like lookin like a playboy are you all single? i bet allready being married plays a major factor in that wether you think it or not.
I am 28, married, and a father. I would be embarrassed to dress that way, personally. But I also feel that if you're putting on a "costume" to play music, then your music is probably some sort of facade as well...especially if you're a blues lawyer.
If I wouldn't wear it anywhere else, then why would I wear it on stage?
I guess dress is the one blues issue that fires me up as I often see it as being disrespectful to past generations. The whole middle class white guy trying to romanticize the distant pass by dressing up as a player from a different generation and acting like they are a cool swinger just turns me off. I looks cheesy, sounds cheesy, and is an act. Nothing turns me off from a band faster than a dude like that singing about juke joints using metaphors ripped off from people they have next to nothing in common with...basically they are singing and playing about a lifestyle they were never a part of. How honest can that be?
If you don't actually live it 24/7/365 then it is joke. The whole West Coast over the top image is something that blues lawyers created and now inaccurately portrait as being "retro". It is a total slap in the face to the music they are trying to "protect". Often times, while they talk like they're old school, they are just perpetuating music and an image that came out of sensationalizing the music they so love.
Sorry for the rant, and those of you who know me know I tend to take the middle ground with my opinions and keep an open mind, but this is the ONE part of the blues that I become ridiculous about. I just firmly believe it is where the music came from that made the blues awesome...it was contemporary for its time and fit the time it came up in...it wasn't trying to be retro or a cool lifestyle to follow like Emo, punk, or dressing like you're from the 80's.
---------- Mike Fugazzi http://www.myspace.com/niterailband http://www.youtube.com/user/NiteRail http://www.twitter.com/NiteRail http://www.facebook.com/mike.fugazzi
I don't think "Playboy" when I see that style - I think skinny white boy playing at being a Huggy Bear Pimp hustler.
To me, what I wear on stage, is about smart. What I wear on stage is the same as I'd wear to a formal do. It's still me, but smarter. I'm not doing a Ziggy Stardust and becoming a whole new persona by wearing my stage outfit.
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2009 12:11 PM
I know people eat this up, but this is the stuff that drives me nuts...
Now Sean, if you are reading this (yeah right), you obviously got some things figured out that I don't, but this just isn't my path for a lot of reasons.
IMHO, this is a show and not so much a music perforamnce.
To me, this is where it is at...
There are some interesting outfits for this band on this clip...but these "costumes" are coming from a much different place. ---------- Mike Fugazzi http://www.myspace.com/niterailband http://www.youtube.com/user/NiteRail http://www.twitter.com/NiteRail http://www.facebook.com/mike.fugazzi
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2009 12:17 PM
I wonder how the look affects your accessibility to the crowd. I'm not suggesting that dressing like a teeny-bopper will get you a younger demographic, but a lot of this blues style is what the blues artists wore when blues was in it's heyday. It probably was also what was in fashion at the time.
Is wearing blues styles just a prop to let people know you are a blues player before you get a chance to show them? Is it just a way to emulate your blues heroes?
well in my defence i dont "play dress up" nor do i pretend to be some "hustler". this is me every day. i think my life style differs alot from most of the people on the forum. i dont have a wife an kids an a career. i do what i do an its the life i live. not gonna get into details about my life, im just saying i think its different when your out on the streets or you have a normal life. the people i associate with are gonna be different then the people a family man will associate with. a different lifestyle can bring about a different style of dress. not that any one i know dresses like me, but i sure dont know any one wearing polo golf shirts, or what ever. (nothing against brandon) i just picked a proper shirt.
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2009 12:41 PM
Just a good pair a jeans.....an under armor type Tshirt with an open button short sleeve shirt on top. OH and a ball cap that matches the color of my under armor....nothing fancy - never shades -although the few times I've played with spot I wish I had some !! ---------- Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. - Charlie Parker
I've listened to a wide range of music, from metal to folk. I've gone to two Tori Amos shows over the years. The first one was when she was just hitting mainstream. She wore jeans and absolutely rocked. The second time she wore all these elaborate outfits that would have made Elton John blush. I felt like I should turn in my Manhood Card after watching that show, even although the music was still great. I know some people want to see some sort of spectacle on stage, but if it doesn't seem organic to the act it can really take a lot away.
I agree with HarpNinja's rant. The only time I can think of when dressing up like a 'bluesman' doesn't look fake is when it really is expected, e.g. at college I was asked to front a 'Blues Brothers' night; or, playing at a function where smart dress is expected.
Personally, I don't know any good local blues musicians who dress the part. If you walked in, and they were standing at the bar, you wouldn't know that they were musicians. They dress the same way that their audience does.
I suppose, if you think about it, that's what the bluesmen of old were doing: back then, pretty much everyone wore a hat.
I've done the dressing up thing myself, a long time ago. Now, it just feels phoney to me. I'm not saying it's wrong - hell, there's no law against it; it hurts no one. I'm just saying it feels like an act to me. If those old boys were around now, they'd probably be wearing what everyone else is wearing, just like most of the local musos in South London do. ---------- YouTube SlimHarpMick a.k.a. HarmonicaMick
I am grateful that I no longer own a suit, a tie or dress shoes. It certainly made me feel like I was putting on an act. Not that there is anything wrong with acting, It ain't me.
I do remember my friend David Baas, owner of "Roadworthy Guitar" and also from the Blue Riviera's talking about wearing shades one night. One of the guys in the band, I think it was the late Tom Mohler had this idea about all of them wearing shades so they did. Dave said it did create a different mood, groove, I don't remember the exact word.
one related point, is that studies have shown that someone who is dressed up gets more respect. controlled research and all that. so if you are totally great, once you start playing, nobody cares. it is like people being pissed when charlie parker showed up late, strung out, and without a horn.. then nobody cared when he started playing. in reality most people cannot play that well.
another point, lots of blues players try to emulate the old blues music. they study it and try to duplicate it, so why not duplicate the performance of it? i mean look at how much a good condition fender 59 bassman or a good old sure mic element goes for now, because people have to have that old sound
if you play live shows your a performer/entertainer. if you wanna be the best performer/entertainer you do what you gotta do. for example...look at marylin manson. look at the way he dresses. an hes the best of his kind. hes got millions of dollers. do you think he would have gotten any attention if he wore jeans an a t-shirt? hell no. he would be just anouther musician.
I think grubby to casual cloths look best. My all-time favorite performing "uniform" I've seen was what Bob Hite wore at woodstock: sweat-pants and a pocket-tee...with a pack of reds in the pocket of course. Now thats class. My attitude is the same I take for what to wear to church: it should be about the act and the spirit, not the getup (Its been years since I've been to church btw).
Historical note: In the 1950/60's Harvey Goldsmith bought the bluesmen over to Europe, where their influence fell on artists such as John Mayall and the Stones These bluesmen started wearing sharp suits when performing in Europe. The blues was then exported back to white middle class America by Mayall, Led Zep, Stones etc and they did not wear suits.
I think your analogy with Manson is missing the point. Manson's music is a part of what has gradually come to be known as 'youth culture'; it's connected with the idea of teenagers as a separate social group with their own identy: the dress code and music are a part of that identy.
The blues in its earlier form predates that by at least forty years. Those early bluesmen weren't 'dressing up'; their attire was simply what a club owner would've expected them to wear. At that time, entertainers were required to be at least as well turned out as their patrons were. Don't forget, this is way before the time when anything went, be it spikey green hair, metal rings hanging out of every orifice and what have you.
The whole idea of youth music and all its movements - teddy boys, mods, rockers, glam rock, new romantics, punks, etc, etc - has very little to do with the blues, which, for the most part, most people would consider to be a serious or non-transient art form. Those other types of music are - in fact, are meant to be - fads. What is listened to by one generation will be seen as 'uncool' by the next. That is a part of the industry's marketing technique. The blues, along with other 'serious' music forms, is not like that: if you have a grandson, the chances are that one day he might want to learn blues harp; he will not, however, be in a Marylin Manson tribute band. No one, except for a few musicologists will have the faintest idea who Marylin Manson was.
The only link between those movements and the blues is the way that they often appropriate the 12 bar form as an instantly recognisable hook, e.g. Bill Hailey and The Comets' Rock Around The Clock; Roxy Music's Let's Stick Together; The Stranglers' Mean To Me; the list is endless. ---------- YouTube SlimHarpMick a.k.a. HarmonicaMick
Last Edited by on Dec 17, 2009 5:26 AM
I think shorts and mandals/flipflops onstage are generally inappropriate unless you're Jimmy Buffet, or you're playing somewhere where it's buttcrack hot...At least don't look like you just did yardwork or were out shopping for mangoes(nothing wrong with mangoes, mind you). I've played in bands where we more or less dressed the part without ever going 'over the top'...only one did I play a show where the singer, who organized the band of hired guns(including me)insisted we wear 'blues brothers hats and glasses'...we went round and round about that. The end result? No glasses(it was a nighttime gig), and everyone wore black and white or all-black. Yes, I bought and wore a hat, under protest at the time, but my wife actually sealed the deal when she said it looked good on me! I ended up liking that hat, and now I wear it out when it's a little nippy. ---------- ~Todd L. Greene, Devout Pedestrian
"listen to what you like for inspiration, but find your own voice"
I wasn't there when electric blues first hit the scene, but bet that it was the hip movement of the time. I suspect that they had their own dress that told people in the know that they were the hot young stud in the neighborhood. That is why they started putting out the hit records. Those guys were after the status, the women, the money, and they wanted to look sharp. Sure, to get a gig you had to look good enough that the club owner would believe that you had the chops to make a living on it, but my guess is, if those guys could afford it, they would get a sharp set of threads. I suspect that to think that a new hot music movement, just because it happened 50 years ago, was not wrapped up in fashion and attitude, would be a mistake.
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2009 10:32 AM
